Automatic tee



. D. BAUER AUTOMATIC TEE March 15, 1949.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 2.5, 1945 IVENTOR.

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Patented Mar. 15, 1949 UNITED STATES RATENT GFFICE AUTOMATIC TEE DaveBauer, Lakewood City, Calif.

Application September' 25, 1945, Serial No. 618,431

This invention relates to a golf ball teeing device, which can be usedon driving ranges and for giving lessons. An object of this invention isto provide a device that will improve the players timing during thefollow through of the clubhead while making a shot.

Another object of this invention is to provide a device that willquickly and easily place the ball in playing position.

Other objects, advantages and features of the invention will appear fromthe disclosures in the specification and the accompanying drawings inwhich:

Figure l a top plan view of an embodiment of the invention;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view on the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view on the line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional view on the line 4-4 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary View of the tee,` and Figure 6 is a sectionalview on the line 6--6 of Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a sectional View on the line I-'I of Figure 2.

Referring more in detail to the drawing, the reference numeral I0designates the teeV box or housing which is made of wood provided on itsends with handles I2 to aid in the transportation thereof and has alongitudinally extending partition I4 located centrally of the ends ofthe box I0 and internally thereof.

Positioned on the upper surface of the box I0 is an arcuate shapeddelivery tube I6 which is of a size to accommodate the golf balls I8 andfunctions as a delivery tube for said balls.

The tube I6 is supported by and retained in position by a curved bracket20 which is secured to the rear end of the box I0 by fasteners 22, andto the tube by fasteners 23.

A lever 24 extending longitudinally of the box I0 is. pivoted at one endby means of a pivot pin 26 to the partition I4 and is retained inposition by action of the upper coil spring 28 which is secured to theinner side of the top of the box I0 and the lever 24, thus downwardmovement of the lever 24 causes expansion of the spring 28.

The tube I6 and box I0 are provided with openings 32 and 34 respectivelyto permit a ball release 36 which is pivotally attached to the lever 24to pass therethrough to retain the balls I8 in the tube I6 untilreleased therefrom by the down- 1 claim. (o1. 273-33) ward action of thelever 24 in a manner to be explained.

Immediately forward of the release 36 is a second release or stop 38which is also pivotally secured to the lever 24 and passes upwardly intothe tube i6 by means of aligned openings 4I) and 42 respectively in thebox I0 and tube I6.

Secured to the free end of the lever 24 is the pedal 44 which extendsupwardly through the opening 46 in the box I6 and controls the downwardmovement of the lever 24 to bring the balls i6 into position as desired.

Secured to the lever 24 by means of screws 48 is the bracket. 50 whichis adapted to clamp and hold the tubular rubber tee 52 in an upwardlyextending position as shown.

The tee 52 extends upwardly through the opening 54 in the removableplaying surface 56 and a slot 58 extending from one side of the opening54 permits the tee 52 to bend into the slot 58 and prevent wear thereon;as shown in Figures 5 and 6 the surface 56 is provided with a deliverychannel 6I and a brush surface 60 and simulating the natural playingfield or surface.

The height of the tee 52 extending beyond the playing surface 56 iscontrolled by the cable 62, one end of which is secured to the lever 24and Jhich passes over guide pulleys 64 and 66 respectively, is attachedat its other end to the pedal 68 located in the guide, bracket 'I0 onthe end of the box I6. The bracket 'I0 is provided with notches 'I2 forholding the pedal 68 at various heights, the height of the pedal 68determining the height of the tee 52 by the action of the cable 62 onthe lever 24 pulling against the spring 28.

Extending at an angle from the lever 24 is a second timing lever I4which is pivotally mounted in the bracket 'I6 by means of pivot pin 18.The lever 'ini is normally retained in a slightly tilted position by aspring 30 which is anchored to the lever 14 and the box IE).

The bracket I6 is secured to the undersurface of the top of the box I0and extends downwardly thereof. One end of the lever 14 is free, but theother end is connected to lever 24 by means of a flexible link 86.

Slidably mounted on the lever 'I4 is the timin pedal 82 which comprisesa collar or sleeve 84 having an upstanding internally threaded extension86 which is adapted to receive the adjustable stem 68. The stem 88,which is adapted to be contacted by a players heel, extends upwardlythrough the opening 89 in the box I0 and the height thereof can beadjusted by turning it clockwise or counterclockwise.

The upper surface of the box I6 is provided with an elongated slot 90for the reception of the stem 88 and to permit adjustment thereof.

The upper surface of the box I is provided with a composition playsurface 92 which can be in direct contrast to the playing surface 56 andis provided with an opening 94 for the pedal 44 and opening S6 for thestem 88.

When it is desired to use the device, the pedal 44 is depressed againstthe tension of spring 28, to the position shown in broken lines inFigure 2, simultaneously lowering both the releases 36 and 38 permittinga ball I8 to leave the tube I6 and roll into the opening 54. Uponrelease of the pedal 44 the second ball is pushed into position bygravity.` Raising of the lever 24 by the spring 28 also raises the tee52 with the first ball on the end thereof. The release 36 prevents allof the balls from being emptied as a group from the tube I6. Hence, whenpedal 44 is moved downwardly, the stop 38 releases the rst ball and stop36 moves into the tube I6 to hold back the remainder of the balls. Whenthe pedal 44 is released, stop 36 is withdrawn from the tube I6simultaneously with the insertion of the stop 38 into the tube I6, bythe lever 24 raised by the spring 28 to the position shown in full linesin Figure 2, to retain a ball as shown in this gure. The action of thereleases 36 and 38 is also shown in Figure 7.

If the device is to be operated automatically, the player then takes hisstance with his heel pushing the stem 88 downward and therefore the link'I4 and tensioning the spring 30. This action will have no effect on thelever 24 due to the link 80 being flexible. However, when the heel ofthe player is suddenly lifted, the expanded spring 36 will tilt thelever 'I4 to move the lever 24 to deliver another ball to the opening 54as previously described.

However, if the player should lift his heel before his follow-through iscompleted, the stem AB8 will rise and the ball to be played will belowered preventing the player from making a stroke.

Thus, the player must have perfect timing in his stroke to permit playof the ball and automatic discharge of another to the tee.

It is believed that the operation of the device will be apparent tothose skilled in the art when taken in conjunction with the disclosuresin the accompanying drawings, and it is to be understood that variouschanges in the combination and arrangement of parts can be made providedthey fall within the spirit of the invention and the scope of theappended claim.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

A mechanical golf teeing device comprising a container adapted to reston the ground or the like and to support a person, an arcuate deliverytube adapted to contain a plurality of golf balls, means fastening thedelivery tube to the exterior of said container, a tee lever, meanspivoting an end of same to and within said container and below saidarcuate delivery tube, said delivery tube having a pair of openingspositioned in opposite sides of said delivery tube and spacedlongitudinally of each other in said delivery tube a distancesubstantially equal to the diameter of a golf ball, a release memberreciprocably extending through one of said openings of said arcuatedelivery tube for transverse movement therein, a stop memberreciprocably extending through the other of said openings of saidarcuate delivery tube for transverse movement therein, means pivotallysecuring said release and stop members, respectively, to said tee leverwhereby said release member and said stop member are adapted to receivetherebetween and engage opposite sides of a single golf ball in saidarcuate delivery tube, a resilient tee rod attached to said tee lever,said tee rod having a socket portion in alignment with said deliverytube to receive and support a golf ball discharged from said deliverytube, guiding means on the exterior of said container for guiding golfballs from said delivery tube to said tee rod socket, a pedal attachedto said tee lever and extending above said container, said pedal beingadapted to be depressed by foot of person on said container for tiltingsaid tee lever, whereby tilting of the tee lever will simultaneouslymove said release and stop members and said tee rod in the samedirection relative to said arcuate delivery tube, a timing lever, meanspivoting said timing lever within said container for oscillatorymovements in a plane at an angle to the plane of movement of said teelever, a link pivotally connected to one end of said timing lever and toan adjacent end of said tee lever, a slot in said container extendingparallel to said timing lever, a timing pedal adapted to be engaged bythe heel of a person on said container taking a stance facing the teerod, means slidably mounting said timing pedal on said timing lever toaccommodate the stance of different persons, springs means anchored tosaid container and pivoted to said timing lever between the pivot meanstherefor and the means for slidably mounting said timing pedal foryielding opposing movement of the same and thereby said tee lever, meanson said container guiding the free end of said timing lever, cable meansattached to said tee lever for limiting movement thereof in onedirection, and means attached to the exterior of said container foradjusting said cable means.

DAVE BAUER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,888,256 Baumgartner Nov. v22,1932i 1,923,682 Moerman Aug. 22, 1933 1,935,291 Gardner et al Nov. 14,1933 1,965,697 Gardner et al July 10, 1935l 2,013,881 Fleming Sept. 10,1935 2,198,968 Jewett Apr. 30, 1940

